Gores Group, a multi-billion-dollar equity firm based in Los Angeles, is buying the plant in Cosmopolis, Washington, from Weyerhaeuser, a pulp and paper company, for an undisclosed sum.

Smurfit is part of the investor group acquiring the plant, which will be renamed Cosmo Specialty Fibers.

“The plant was closed by its previous owner five years ago,” said Smurfit. “So we are undertaking a programme of refurbishment and improvement, which is projected to take approximately six to nine months.”

It is estimated the plant will employ 200 people when it reopens.

“The products created by the mill, which are viscose and acetate, should be in very strong demand in the coming years,” he said.